So What Exactly Happens to Odin at the End of ‘Thor 2’?

'Thor 2' has plenty of surprising twists and turns, but one the biggest occurs in the literal final moments of the film, right before the cut to ending credits. Before you read any further, we're about to completely spoil the ending of the film, so turn back now if you haven't seen it yet. You've been warned!

With Malekith and the Dark Elves defeated, peace has been restored to the nine realms and Asgard begins the lengthy process of rebuilding. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) turns down the throne, saying that he wants to be a protector, not a king, leaving his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) in control of the kingdom. Or, so it appears. The moment Thor turns away, we see that Odin is actually Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in disguise, his dramatic death scene earlier in the film all part of an elaborate ruse.

The film is essentially over at this point, so the questions proposed by this scene deliberately go unanswered. How did Loki fake his death? How did he get back to Asgard? Most importantly, where is the real Odin? Is he alive? Is he dead? Is Loki holding him captive or did he actually do the unthinkable and murder his father offscreen?

MTV was on top of this question and went straight to the source to get an answer. First, they spoke to Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who did a terrific job of dodging the question entirely:

Like all of our plans at Marvel Studios, we know where we would like to go if given the opportunity. We have very good ideas whether the All-Father is with us or not.

However, director Alan Taylor was a little more blunt in his answer, confirming that Odin is definitely dead and that it was a specific decision they made in the process of developing the film:

That was a big twist. It took us a while to realize that we were actually going to kill him. And then it took us a while to realize that we were going to do that at the end.

As for Hopkins himself? Well, he's even more direct than his director:

He's dead. I've done two, that's enough.

So there you have it! According to the man who plays him and the director of the film he appears in, Odin is dead and fully replaced his his evil adopted son. Naturally, this is a status quo that could change at the drop of a hat (hence Feige's cagey answer), but for the time being, we can assume the one-eyed All Father of the cinematic Marvel universe is no more.

'Thor: The Dark World' is currently in theaters and it's quite good. You probably already know this since you read this very spoilery article.